Nobody said it was going to be easy for the Live Oak High
football team to make its first return trip to the Central Coast
Section playoffs in four seasons this year. But nobody could have
guessed it would be this hard, either. Facing a regular
season-ending gauntlet of three of the area
’s best teams, the loss of key players and a coach heading into
a showdown with their traditional rival, and unfortunate
circumstances beyond their control, the Acorns overcame everything
thrown their way and emerged with the prize they had worked so hard
all season to achieve – a postseason ber
th.
Nobody said it was going to be easy for the Live Oak High football team to make its first return trip to the Central Coast Section playoffs in four seasons this year. But nobody could have guessed it would be this hard, either.
Facing a regular season-ending gauntlet of three of the area’s best teams, the loss of key players and a coach heading into a showdown with their traditional rival, and unfortunate circumstances beyond their control, the Acorns overcame everything thrown their way and emerged with the prize they had worked so hard all season to achieve – a postseason berth.
With last Friday’s 28-21 comeback victory over host Gilroy, Live Oak earned an automatic bid to the CCS playoffs by the skin of their teeth. Despite rebounding from a 24-game winless streak to win their first seven games of the season this year, it all came down to a gut-check of a contest against the Mustangs.
Win and you’re in. Lose or tie and turn in your pads.
The Acorns passed with flying colors.
The reward? A first-round matchup with top-seeded Oak Grove on Friday at 7pm for No. 8 seed Live Oak in the CCS Large Schools Division playoffs. The Blossom Valley Athletic League co-champion Eagles (8-2 overall) will host the Acorns (8-2), who finished third in the Tri-County Athletic League.
Live Oak coach Glen Webb, who last led the Acorns to the CCS playoffs in his first season as head coach in 2000, said last week’s victory was especially sweet given the opponent and the circumstances.
“It was great to be able to turn it around against Gilroy, to win the big one and re-prove to ourselves that we were going in the right direction,” Webb said. “It’s nice to be back (in the playoffs). A whole lot of players have been through the system since we were last there.”
It’s hardly a surprise, given the way their season has gone, that the first-round matchup is just another hurdle placed in the Acorns’ way.
In Sunday’s CCS playoffs seeding meeting, Live Oak squeaked into the playoffs as a wild card entry by just a half-point. (Teams are awarded points based on a combination of record and strength of schedule.)
Despite its outstanding record, with its only losses to a pair of teams ranked in the Top 10 in CCS (TCAL co-champs) Hollister-San Benito and Palma), LO saw its overall points take a beating when the Monterey Bay League was unexpectedly downgraded to a “C-league” rating before the season. All of the Acorns’ non-league opponents play in the MBL.
Webb said if the MBL had remained a “B” league, as it has been for years, LO would likely have earned a home game for the playoffs.
Ironically, LO actually ended up with a lower seed than Gilroy despite beating the Mustangs and finishing ahead of them in the league standings. In fact, it was partly as a result of being seeded lower than Gilroy that LO ended up with the No. 8 seed and a date with Oak Grove.
Originally, the Acorns were awarded a No. 6 seed, but were bumped down into an eighth seed in order to avoid being matched up against TCAL rivals Hollister-San Benito and Gilroy. Instead, LO gets a vaunted Oak Grove team whose only losses are to Leigh, with whom they shared the BVAL title, and West Catholic Athletic League power St. Francis.
In fact, it was Oak Grove that routed Live Oak 49-6 in the Acorns’ last CCS playoff game four years ago.
But instead of bemoaning his team’s fate, Webb said he’d rather play Oak Grove than another TCAL rival.
Perhaps that’s because he knows how tough league opponents are, or perhaps it’s because he feels it’s just another mountain to climb for a team that’s had to face plenty of them.
It all before the season’s first game. The Acorns lugged the baggage of two and a half seasons of futility with them, the weight of which was only slightly alleviated after they won all five of their non-league games and won their opener over beleagured North Salinas.
But the old naysayers emerged again after Live Oak had to rally for a win against Salinas, then were soundly beaten by the Chieftains and the Haybalers.
With media pundits dismissing them, the Acorns were faced with deciding their postseason fate against neighboring Gilroy in the season finale. LO hadn’t beaten the Mustangs in four straight meetings, and Gilroy was in the midst of a resurgent season of its own – one that included an upset victory over Palma for the first time in school history.
Making matters worse, the Acorns lost longtime assistant coach Bill Sanford, then found out last week that they’d lost four defensive starters to a combination of injury, disciplinary action and eligibility. Defensive backs Cody Welch and Jared Koblis, linebacker AJ Avellar, and lineman Oliver Garcia were all unavailable against Gilroy, which featured the league’s top rusher – junior speedster Justin Sweeney.
Despite allowing Sweeney to rush for 181 yards to set a new all-time single-season Southern Conference (TCAL, MBL and Mission Trail Athletic League) rushing record, and score three touchdowns, LO’s defense came up big when it counted most.
With the game tied 21-all in the fourth quarter, and Gilroy driving into LO territory, Acorn senior defensive back Doug Porras came up with a tipped pass for an interception. Porras, a receiver and running back who was forced into a larger role on defense by the absence of Welch and Koblis, returned the ball 59 yards for the apparent go-ahead score. The play was called back due to a penalty but LO scored two plays later on Kevin Abbott’s 12-yard TD run to take the lead.
Then, on Gilroy’s final possession of the game, Mustang QB Peter Mickartz hit tight end Jared Gamm in stride for a long gainer that looked like it might tie the game with less than two minutes to play. But diminutive junior DB Jeff West caught the big Mustang receiver and cut him down at the LO 10 to prevent the score.
The Acorns held the dynamic Sweeney out of the end zone on first and second down, forced an incomplete pass by Mickartz, and then sacked the Mustang signal-caller on fourth-and-goal to preserve the victory and their postseason hopes.
Webb credited Defensive Coordinator Rick Booth’s game plan and leadership for the Acorns’ inspired effort.
“He put in (to the Gilroy game plan) just a few new things that kept the kids’ minds focused on the game and away from everything else,” Webb said.
Senior defensive back Andrew Cummins said the LO “D” was determined not to let the season disappear in one game.
“We had to keep our heads up,” Cummins said. “We knew we had to beat Gilroy.”
Junior running back Dustin Muhn, who rushed for 89 yards and three TDs, summed up the Acorns’ mind-set.
“We just realized we had to get it done and we had guys that stepped up,” Muhn said. “Last year, we didn’t win a game and this year we’re going to CCS. It’s such a turnaround.”
And, Porras.
“It was the perfect game to win to get into the playoffs,” he said. “Now we have the momentum.”
Momentum, indeed. According to Webb, LO actually has some good news to report on the homefront as seniors Welch and Avellar will return for Friday’s game at Oak Grove.
After the last few weeks, the CCS playoffs will probably seem like a joy ride for these Acorns.
